Suge Knight has claimed that he covered for Dr. Dre in his federal gun case, and it led to him spending time behind bars.
During the latest episode of his Collect Call podcast, which aired this week via Dave Mays’ Breakbeat Media, the incarcerated Death Row Records co-founder explained how a deal to obtain a weapon for his former artist landed him in prison.
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Suge recalled having a conversation with an unnamed individual about Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg acquiring firearms around the time of The Chronic Tour in 1993.
“I stopped Dre from getting a lot of time for beating up a gang of bitches and all the shit he was doing that made me… you know,” he began.
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“My fed case is behind Dre. If I had to do it all over again I still would do it again because that’s the kind of man I am. The other person, I don’t keep it 1,000 and keep it gangsta because of the next muthafucka, I keep it because that’s my DNA.”
He continued: “So what ended up happening in that situation, a guy called me and said, ‘Hey, Dre want this type of gun. Snoop want this type of gun. Y’all getting ready to go on The Chronic Tour?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ [He said], ‘What kind you want?’ [I said], ‘I don’t need one.’
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“I’m finna drop my muthafuckin’ call to get music put in, we getting ready to roll. [He said], ‘Well, who going to send me the money?’ [I said], ‘I’m Dre’s manager. Dre’s business manager is the one going to send the money for a gun he wants.’
“I gave him the business manager number. The guy calls the business manager. The business manager wires the money for Dre’s guns to a guy who will give him the guns. A year or two later, on my birthday, they arrested me. The feds.”
Suge Knight went on to detail the alleged conversations with his lawyer that led to him covering for Dr. Dre.
“I go to court, David Kenner come and see me,” he said. “He shows me that, ‘Hey, [you] can get out, but Dre gon’ do the time, because his business manager is the one that got the money. He can do the time. He [inaudible] behind the shit.’ I said, ‘Fuck it, could you get him probation?’ David Kenner said, ‘Probably not.’ He said, ‘Maybe.’
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“I said, ‘Tell you what: either try to get me probation, or if I gotta do a year or two, these muthafuckas better be in the studio working.’ So I got David Chesnoff out of Las Vegas representing me also because that’s where he was from.
“I got probation, which I end up doing time for that. Had nothing to do with me. So I don’t regret doing anything for people [I] fuck with, ’cause that’s what you supposed to do.”
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In 1994, Suge Knight was arrested on weapons charges stemming from an investigation into a major cocaine distribution operation stretching from Los Angeles to Las Vegas.
The mogul, who was 29 at the time, was charged with criminal conspiracy, making a false statement to acquire a firearm, illegal interstate transfer of a firearm and aiding and abetting.
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Knight is currently serving a 28-year prison sentence for the 2015 hit-and-run murder of record label owner Terry Carter. Knight, who claimed that he acted in self-defense, pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter and will not be eligible for parole until October 2034.
Listen to Suge’s comments at the 17:55 mark below:
